Bangalore Book Festival starts on Nov 14

Bangalore, Nov 6 (UNI) The VI Edition of the Bangalore Book Festival (BBF) will start at the Palace Grounds here on November 14.

In a release here today, BBF Programme Director B S Raghuram said over one million titles would be on display at more than 300 stalls, likely to be visited by over two lakh people.

He said the ten-day festival would be inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

The BBF, which gained popularity among book lovers, is expected to generate business of over Rs 15 crore.

The festival will feature books in various languages, including Kannada, English and Hindi. Kannada publishers will occupy about 40 stalls.

''We have taken measures to make the BBF the country's most talked about event among the Indian publishing industry,''he said.

The event is jointly organised by the Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association and Klub Class.

The Kannada Book Authority and Kendra Sahitya Academy extended the financial support to the fair.

Organisers have also decided to invite celebrities from the film industry and corporate world to the annual event.

To drive more youth to the event, competitions will be conducted for school and college students at the festival venue.

To encourage reading habits, three noted authors will conduct book-reading sessions daily.

The Kendra Sahitya Academy, which will set up three stalls, has also come forward to sponsor book reading sessions.

One Kannada writer and two from other languages will conduct daily session in the evenings, he said.

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